Interim

seven

There was no way that I just experienced this right now. There stood, a beautiful girl with brown hair smooching my Zach. Woah. Did I just say 'my Zach'. Oh, yes I did. This is bad. Very bad. The girl finally pulled away and said

"I bet you've missed that right?"

Zach stepped away from her.

"No I didn't. I'm sorry but you have to stop coming here and stop trying to get me back like this. The damage is done..and it can't be fixed."
He said in a very serious tone. The girl froze for a moment, her face showing major sadness.

She looked like she was about to cry and then suddenly she came back to life and noticed me.

"Who's that?"
She asks pointing and looking at me. Zach starts to walk my way and takes my hand in his.

"This is Stella."
He says and smiles at me.

"And Stella, this is Ariane."
The girls face maddens.

"So what, are you guys dating now?"

Ver voice was clearly showing attitude and she started tapping her foot against the floor. The kind of attitude and actions she was portraying right now really looked like my mom when she was very angry at me for eating a whole pizza box by myself.

"No, she's just a friend."

The words coming out of his mouth somehow felt like a bunch of knives stabbing me repeatedly. Why would I be feeling like this though? I'm the one who has always labeled him as just my friend. The girls face and actions did not change even after he said that. She still looked awfully mad.

"Okay, well I'll guess I'll leave you guys alone now."
She says and leaves towards the door.

Zach goes and locks the door until we hear a loud crashing sound. I looked out the window and saw that Ariane kicked a statue down, that was placed as decorations, it was shattered in pieces. I sighed and looked at Zach.

"She broke one of your dads statues."

We waited until Ariane got in her car and drove away.

We both stepped out the door and looked side to side making sure that Ariane was completely out of sight. Zach then approached the broken statue, picking up one of the pieces and then throwing it back to the hard ground in frustration.

"That was an expensive statue that my mother purchased back when she was here." He looked down at the broken pieces.

I placed my hand on his back, as to give him comfort and looked at the broken pieces of the statue too.

"I'm sorry to hear that Zach."

He stands up and turns around to face me.
"It's okay, I have her in my memory forever."

I quickly pull him to an embrace and he hugged back, tight yet gentle. I swear his hugs were the best. They were the kind that made you feel completely safe and let you know that everything was going to be okay. Plus he just always smelled so good.

"I should get you back home now. It's getting pretty late."

I really didn't want to go home, knowing that Zach would be upset and all alone. I wanted to stay with him.

"Um, or maybe I can stay here with you?"
I say looking down, feeling like he would decline my request.

"Okay, sounds good. Thanks love."
He takes my hand, leading me back in to his house.

I called my mom to let her know that I was staying at Zach's tonight. She seemed a bit concerned since it was a school night and it just seemed odd but I told her that he wasn't feeling okay and she understood. Now usually my parents would argue with me if I stayed at a guys house for the night but they trusted me. They know that I am smart and always try to aim for the right choices and decisions and I really appreciate them for seeing that.

Zach and I were in his room. He had just finished taking a shower, walking out of the door. A white towel was wrapped around his waist and his nicely toned abs were showing. I swear, he looked so good right now.

"I'm guessing you want something to wear to sleep for the night, unless you wanna go naked?"
He gave me a flirty smile and I feel myself blush a little and I give out a small laugh.

"What do you have for me?" I ask him.

"Well not much, considering the fact that girls don't stay the night at my place like this and I don't have any sisters so.."

He throws me one of his long white t-shirts. I caught it and put the shirt against me, measuring to see how long it was. It went down to my knees. Thank god.

"This will do, thanks."

I turn and make my way towards his bathroom.

I turned off the handle of the shower and stepped out. I dried my body and my hair and picked up the shirt that Zach gave me to wear. I put it over my head and adjusted it.

I felt like I looked like a ghost or something. The way the long white shirt almost covered me completely. The other thing that made me feel quite weird in it was the fact that I still felt naked in it. Why am I suddenly so afraid? We are just going to sleep. I guess, maybe this time is different because I'm not intoxicated and we are both a little more closer now after the kiss we shared today.

I walked out of the door and spotted Zach laying in his bed still with the towel wrapped around his waist.

"Aw, hey."
He says, giving me a sweet smile, his dimples slightly showing.

"Hi..and uh, why aw?"

"You just look so cute with my t-shirt on."
He says giving me a flirtatious smile.

I blushed and hid my face from him, not wanting him to see. I returned to my normal state.

"Are you ever going to change into whatever you're changing?"

"Eh, yeah, I'm just too lazy right now." He says.

"It's been more than 30 minutes since you've taken a shower though."
I say.

"Alright, alright, I'll change. I can see my masculine body makes you feel things." He says, sneering at me and stands up, going towards his room cabinet.

"Don't look."
He says as he takes off his towel and changes into his boxers. I feel like this is extremely awkward yet entertaining.

"Okay, I'm done."
He says and smiles at me again and then rushes back into bed.

"I swear, you are so weird."
I say jokingly to him.

"I know, and so are you, now come sleep with me please?."
He says and gives me the puppy dog face.

"Ha, okay. Now stop being so weird."
I say as I slip into bed next to him. We were both silent for a while until I decided to speak.

"So how's your dad? Have you heard from him?" I asked him, both of our expressions turned more serious now.

"Nah, not really. I mean he called me yesterday morning to see how things were going here and then he had to hang up pretty quickly. He's just been way too busy lately and days were getting lonelier..but things are better now."
He says, pulling me close to him.

"Yeah, well you've made my days so much better. I don't know what I would do without you."
I manage to say, resting my head on his chest and closing my eyes. We stay silent again and I feel myself getting sleepier. I had thought that Zach was already asleep but it wasn't until I heard him whisper something that made my heart stop.

"I love you Stella Marie."

I was pretending I was fast asleep the whole time but I obviously wasn't. My face immediately formed a big smile at the thought of him saying he loved me. I probably looked like an idiot. A complete idiot.

The sun creeped it's way into the window and I looked at the time, it was about to be 7, the time I wake up to get ready for school. Zach was in a deep sleep still. I quietly got myself out of the bed and crept my way out of his door. I grabbed my school bag and left the house, approaching my car.

I shot Zach a text, telling him that I was heading home as I now felt bad that I didn't say bye or anything to him. He just looked so peaceful in his sleep, I didn't want to wake him up. Once I arrived to my house, Zach texted me back saying to meet him after school. I responded with an okay. Hm, I wonder why he wanted me to meet up with him again today.